CROCHET

The beautiful shells blanket is a crochet pattern that has been around for many years, and has been re-written numerous times. My grandmother taught me how to whip up this simple design, and now I am passing it along to my readers.

**SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POST TO SEE A VIDEO TUTORIAL**

The Beautiful Shells Crochet Pattern

Row 1: Ch4, *1dc in 4th chain from hook, ch1 repeat from * 6 times, slip stitch into the 3rd chain of the starting ch4 (this counts as the first dc in the round).

Row 2: Ch1, sc in first ch1 space (this is the 4th ch of the beginning ch4), *7 dc in next ch1 space, sc in next ch1 space) repeat from * 3 times, 7 dc in next ch1 space, slip stitch to first sc of the round. (You should have 4 shells, and 4 sc total at this point.)

Row 3: Ch4, all in the same stitch work (1 dc, ch3,1dc, ch1, 1dc – starting v-stitch cluster made), *ch 5, skip the next 7 dc, in the next sc work v-stitch cluster, repeat 2 more times for a total of four v stitch clusters, chain 2 and dc into the 3rd chain from the first v-stitch cluster.

Row 4: 7 dc in next ch1 space, sc in ch3 space, 7 dc in next ch1 space (shell cluster made) – sc into the 4th (middle dc) of the shell of the previous row – make sure the sc goes around the ch5 – securing the ch5 down – Shell cluster in next v-stitch cluster, sc into the the middle dc of shell from below – 3 more times.

Row 5: ch4, dc in same sc (first v-stitch on first side of square made),ch5, v-stitch cluster into the sc of next corner shell cluster, ch5,* v stitch into the next sc between shell clusters (vstitch on 2nd side of square made)ch5, v-stitch cluster into the sc of next corner shell cluster, repeat from * 2 more times, ch2 and dc into the 3rd chain from the starting chain 4 of the round.

Row 6: *Shell into the first v-stitch, sc into the middle dc of the shell below, shell cluster in the next vstitch cluster, sc into the middle dc of the shell below, repeat from * 3 more times.

**The foundation of your blanket is now complete. For the remainder of the blanket, repeat rows 7 and 8, until the blanket is the size you want. You will always end on a 'Row 8' at the end of your project.

Row7: Ch4, dc in same sc (counts as first v-stitch), (ch5, v-stitch in the next sc) to first corner, ch5, vstitch cluster in the corner, *ch5 v-stitch in sc between next shell, ch5 (do this to the next corner shell cluster), v-stitch cluster in middle sc of corner shell cluster, repeat from * until you have done a shell cluster in the 4th corner. Then – ch5 and v-stitch into each of the sc between shells until right before you get to the first v-stitch of the round, ch2 and dc into the 3rd chain of the first v-stitch. (On row 7 this will be right after the fourth corner cluster, but as your piece grows, there will be more before you get to the initial starting v-stitch).

Row 8: *7dc in next v-stitch, sc ** into the middle dc of the shell below, repeat from * to ** til you get to the next corner v-stitch cluster – shell cluster in v-stitch cluster, sc in middle dc from row below*** repeat * through *** 3 more times - to end of round.